Lead Poisoning

(Mass Tort Nexus, August 28, 2017) Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay nearly $1 billion in total damages after just 5 trials, alleging its baby powder is causing ovarian cancer, all jury verdicts have been in state courts in Missouri and California, see J&J Talc Trials St. Louis Missouri.

A Los Angeles jury said yes, and last week it ordered Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to pay $417 million to 63-year-old Eva Echeverria, She blamed her terminal illness on Johnson’s Baby Powder, which she used for decades starting at age 11. Her argument was, the company should have warned consumers about the risk, which J&J stated was not necessary and the jury chose to believe Ms. Echeverria and her trial team.

The jury award is the biggest yet against J&J, which has lost 5 of 6 trials involving claims that its baby powder and Shower to Shower powder cause ovarian cancer. The company denies there’s a connection between its products and the disease and quickly said it would appeal the Los Angeles verdict. Lawsuits involving thousands more plaintiffs are pending, see Johnson & Johnson Talc MDL 2738 Briefcase.

Medical industry and cancer research experts divide sharply on talc’s role. Some are convinced the powder is linked to an increased risk of ovarian cancer, while other including government health experts, say the evidence is lacking.

Amanda Fader, a gynecologic oncologist at Johns Hopkins University who was not involved in the studies states “The scientific body of literature is not compelling at this time to support a strong association between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, let alone to say that any one specific case was associated with powder,” and The American Cancer Society says that studies on talcum powder and ovarian cancer “have been mixed, with some studies reporting a slightly increased risk and some reporting no increase.

Yet Fader and others aren’t ruling out that a link might someday be established. The Food and Drug Administration, which says it has found no link, is doing additional research on the topic. Although, J&J has spent millions of dollars lobbying and influencing all areas of FDA and related public oversight and commentary to prevent and type of link between cancer and talcum powder products from being abbounced, even while competitor talc products sold at Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree post warning labels declaring a possible link.

Talc, a mineral composed of magnesium, silicon, oxygen and hydrogen, is used extensively in cosmetics and personal care products. Women sometimes use talcum powder on their genital areas, sanitary napkins or diaphragms to absorb moisture and odor – contrary to the guidance of most physicians. (Asbestos, linked to lung cancer, was once an impurity in talc, but it has been banned for several decades.) J&J is notorious for using any means possible to influence scientific data and opinion as well as manipulating research reports and public media commentary by industry experts. The recent California trial showed payments made to previously perceived impartial Science Council members, who were declaring publicly that J&J talcum powder does not pose a cancer risk, the Los Angeles jury did not agree with J&J and other pro-talc defense team members, as over $300 million of the total $417 million judgment was for punitive damages, usually awarded for intentional misconduct, see“New Evidence of Johnson & Johnson Bad Conduct Moved LA Jury to Award $417 Million Talc Verdict”.

Many pediatricians also discourage the use of such powder on babies because the particles can cause breathing problems, according to Jennifer Lowry, a pediatrician and environmental health expert at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

More than 22,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year, and 14,000 will die. The biggest risk factors, all well established, include a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, mutations in the BRCA genes and age.

The debate over talc began decades ago. In the early 1970s, scientists discovered talc particles in ovarian tumors. In 1982, Harvard researcher Daniel Cramer reported a link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer. His study was followed by several more finding an increased risk of ovarian cancer among regular users of talcum powder. Cramer, who at one point advised J&J to put a warning on its products, has become a frequent expert witness for women suing the company. J&J ignored and suppressed Mr. Cramer’s attempts to show them the study data then publicly declared this research as flawed, which J&J still continues to this day.

His studies and the many others that have found a relationship used a case-control approach. A group of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and a group without it were asked to recall their past diet and activities, and the results were then compared.

Critics say these kinds of studies have serious drawbacks, particularly “recall bias.” Women may forget what they did or, if diagnosed with cancer, might inadvertently overestimate their use of a suspect substance. People without a serious disease may be less motivated to remember details.

Three other studies – considered cohort studies – did not find any overall link. Unlike the case-control studies, these efforts began with a large group of women who did not have cancer and followed the progress of their health, with participants recording what they were doing in real time. The results of this approach, most scientists say, are stronger because they aren’t subject to the vagaries of memory.

One such study included more than 61,000 women followed for 12 years as part of the National Institutes of Health’s well-respectedWomen’s Health Initiative.

But critics, including Cramer, say these investigations have their own flaws. Because ovarian cancer is so rare, they say, prospective studies don’t always end up with enough cancer cases to detect a potential link between talcum powder and the disease.

And evidence can change as new research becomes available. That explains why the NCI, which uses expert “editorial boards” to vet the voluminous information it puts out for doctors and consumers, has amended its language on talc.

In February 2014, one editorial board reviewed an analysis of several case-control studies that found genital-powder use was associated with a “modest increased risk” of ovarian cancer. The board decided to add the article to the NCI website and noted a weak association between talc and ovarian cancer. It also added a link to the website of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a World Health Organization agency that had concluded years ago that talcum powder was “possibly carcinogenic,” when used in the genital area.

But a year later, the same board scrutinized the Women’s Health Initiative study and took another look at previous studies. That’s when it changed the wording on the NCI’s site to say the “weight of evidence” did not support a link. The board also removed the IARC information. This all occurred after Johnson & Johnson used lobbying pressure and alleged payments to various affiliated entities to influence the NCI change of formal opinion

The FDA has wrestled with the issue, too. In 2014, it denied a citizens’ petition asking the agency to require a warning label on talcum powder; its review of the scientific literature found no link between the product and cancer, officials said.

But because the agency continues to get “adverse event reports” involving talcum powder, it is taking another look at the evidence and launching its own laboratory research. The summary for one study, funded by the FDA’s Office of Women’s Health, says that “talc’s effects on female genital system tissues have not been adequately investigated.”

In a statement after the Los Angeles verdict, J&J said that “we deeply sympathize with the women and families impacted by this disease.” But, it added, the science “supports the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder.”

No matter what side they are on, scientists agree that more research – through lab studies with animals or human tissue – is needed to understand how talcum powder could potentially cause cancer. One hypothesis is that talc applied to the genital area can migrate up the vagina to the ovaries, causing chronic inflammation that eventually results in malignancies. But that is only a hypothesis.

The FDA is warning consumers not to use “Best Bentonite Clay,” a product of Best Bentonite, located in Guthrie, Oklahoma. FDA has determined that the product contains elevated lead levels and may pose a lead poisoning risk. FDA laboratories have found elevated levels of lead in “Best Bentonite Clay.” Exposure to lead can cause serious damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and immune system. In children, chronic exposure to lead, even at low levels, is associated with cognitive impairment, reduced IQ, behavioral difficulties, and other problems.

Sold on Amazon.com

“Best Bentonite Clay” is sold as a fine powder on Amazon.com and on the Best Bentonite website. According to the Best Bentonite website, customers mix the product with water and ingest it or apply it to their skin.

FDA has not confirmed any cases of lead poisoning associated with “Best Bentonite Clay.”

Consumers should not purchase or use “Best Bentonite Clay.” Anyone who has used this product or given it to a child should consult a health care professional immediately.

Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA’s MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program: